Newcastle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Historical and geographical information

 

 

 

  

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General Sir Martin Farndale KCB

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Introduction

 

Dates are in red.

Hyperlinks to other pages are in dark blue.

Headlines of the history of the Newcastle are in brown.

References and citations are in turquoise.

Contextual history is in purple.

 

This webpage about the Newcastle has the following section headings:

 

 

 

The Farndales of Newcastle

 

The following Farndales were associated with Newcastle and South Shields: Jane Ellen Farndale (FAR00458); John Willie Farndale (FAR00591); Albert Farndale (FAR00604); Georgina Farndale (FAR00679); John Arthur Farndale (FAR00723); Thomas Farndale (FAR00732); Joseph Farndale (FAR00739); Elizabeth Farndale (FAR00758); William Farndale (FAR00770); James Farndale (FAR00784); Emily Farndale (FAR00802); William A J Farndale (FAR00829); Margaret L Farndale (FAR00838); John W Farndale (FAR00854); Catherine Farndale (FAR00864); George T Farndale (FAR00871); Barbara Farndale (FAR00877); William Farndale (FAR00893); Janet Farndale (FAR00906); George H A Farndale (FAR00926); John H Farndale (FAR00940); John Farndale (FAR00978); William Farndale (FAR01013); Denise Farndale (FAR01020); John Anthony Farndale (FAR1021); James Farndale (FAR01022); John W Farndale (FAR01023); Janet C Farndale (FAR01025); Joseph W Farndale (FAR01026); Maron Farndale (FAR01028); Margaret E Farndale (FAR01039); George W Farndale (FAR01040); and George William Farndale (FAR01209).

 

The South Shields 2 Line are a large family who descended from John Willie Farndale (FAR00591) who settled from Barrow in Furness in the South Shields area (especially Jarrow) by about 1905. The South Shields 1 Line was a small family who settled in South Shields in about 1933.

 

Farndale Master Mariners operating out of Whitby regularly traded coal out of Newcastle in the nineteenth century.

 

Between 5 and 31 October 1936, John William Farndale was the youngest member of the 185 men who set off on the Jarrow marches. See his webpage for more about the Jarrow marches and John’s involvement.

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Newcastle

 

Newcastle upon Tyne, commonly known as Newcastle, is a city in Tyne and Wear, North East England, 103 miles south of Edinburgh and 277 miles (north of London on the northern bank of the River Tyne, 8.5 miles from the North Sea. Newcastle is the most populous city in the North East, and forms the core of the Tyneside conurbation, the eighth most populous urban area in the United Kingdom.

 

Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it became a county of itself, a status it retained until becoming part of Tyne and Wear in 1974. The regional nickname and dialect for people from Newcastle and the surrounding area is Geordie. Newcastle also houses Newcastle University, a member of the Russell Group, as well as Northumbria University.

 

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Roman

 

The city developed around the Roman settlement Pons Aelius.

 

1080

 

Newcastle was named after the castle built in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conqueror's eldest son.

 

Fourteenth century

 

The city grew as an important centre for the wool trade in the 14th century, and later became a major coal mining area.

 

Sixteenth century

 

The port developed in the 16th century and, along with the shipyards lower down the River Tyne, was amongst the world's largest shipbuilding and ship-repairing centre

 

1530

 

From 1530, a Royal Act restricted all shipments of coal from Tyneside to Newcastle Quayside, giving a monopoly in the coal trade to a cartel of Newcastle burgesses known as the Hostmen. This monopoly, which lasted for a considerable time, helped Newcastle prosper and develop into a major town.

 

1538

 

The phrase taking coals to Newcastle was first recorded contextually in 1538. The phrase itself means a pointless pursuit.

 

In the 18th century, the American entrepreneur Timothy Dexter, regarded as an eccentric, defied this idiom. He was persuaded to sail a shipment of coal to Newcastle by merchants plotting to ruin him; however, his shipment arrived on the Tyne during a strike that had crippled local production, allowing him to turn a considerable profit.

 

In the Sandgate area, to the east of the city, and beside the river, resided the close-knit community of keelmen and their families. They were so called because they worked on the keels, boats that were used to transfer coal from the river banks to the waiting colliers, for export to London and elsewhere.

 

1636

 

In the 1630s, about 7,000 out of 20,000 inhabitants of Newcastle died of plague, more than one-third of the population. Specifically within the year 1636, it is roughly estimated with evidence held by the Society of Antiquaries that 47% of the then population of Newcastle died from the epidemic. This may also have been the most devastating loss in any British city in this period.

 

1644

 

During the English Civil War, the North declared for the King. In a bid to gain Newcastle and the Tyne, Cromwell's allies, the Scots, captured the town of Newburn. In 1644, the Scots then captured the reinforced fortification on the Lawe in South Shields following a siege and the city was besieged for many months. It was eventually stormed "with roaring drummes" and sacked by Cromwell's allies. The grateful King bestowed the motto "Fortiter Defendit Triumphans" ("Triumphing by a brave defence") upon the town. Charles I was imprisoned in Newcastle by the Scots in 1646–7.

 

Eighteenth century

 

In the 18th century, Newcastle was the country's fourth largest print centre after London, Oxford and Cambridge, and the Literary and Philosophical Society of 1793 with its erudite debates and large stock of books in several languages, predated the London Library by half a century. 

 

Newcastle also became a glass producer with a reputation for brilliant flint glass.

 

1806

 

A permanent military presence was established in the city with the completion of Fenham Barracks in 1806.

 

1817

 

In 1817 the Maling company, at one time the largest pottery company in the world, moved to the city. 

 

1842

 

The Victorian industrial revolution brought industrial structures that included the 2 1⁄2-mile (4 km) Victoria Tunnel, built in 1842, which provided underground wagon ways to the staithes

 

1832

 

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An engraving by William Miller of Newcastle in 1832

 

1854

 

The Great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead was a tragic and spectacular series of events starting on Friday 6 October 1854, in which a substantial amount of property in the two North East of England towns was destroyed in a series of fires and an explosion which killed 53 and injured hundreds.

 

1879

 

On 3 February 1879, Mosley Street in the city, was the first public road in the world to be lit up by the incandescent lightbulb. Newcastle was one of the first cities in the world to be lit up by electric lighting. Innovations in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the development of safety lamps, Stephenson's Rocket, Lord Armstrong's artillery, Be-Ro flour, Joseph Swan's electric light bulbs, and Charles Parsons' invention of the steam turbine, which led to the revolution of marine propulsion and the production of cheap electricity.

 

1882

 

The status of city was granted to Newcastle on 3 June 1882.

 

In the nineteenth century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. This revolution resulted in the urbanisation of the city. 

 

In 1882, Newcastle became the seat of an Anglican diocese, with St. Nicholas' Church becoming its cathedral.

 

1886

 

Based at St James' Park since 1886, Newcastle United F.C. became Football League members in 1893. They have won four top division titles (the first in 1905 and the most recent in 1927), six FA Cups (the first in 1910 and the most recent in 1955) and the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969. They broke the world transfer record in 1996 by paying £15 million for Blackburn Rovers and England striker Alan Shearer, one of the most prolific goalscorers of that era.

 

1901

 

Newcastle's public transport system was modernised in 1901 when Newcastle Corporation Tramways electric trams were introduced to the city's streets, though these were replaced gradually by trolley buses from 1935, with the tram service finally coming to an end in 1950.

 

With the advent of the motor car, Newcastle's road network was improved in the early part of the 20th century, beginning with the opening of the Redheugh road bridge in 1901 and the Tyne Bridge in 1928.

 

1904

 

The city acquired its first art gallery, the Laing Art Gallery in 1904, so named after its founder Alexander Laing, a Scottish wine and spirit merchant who wanted to give something back to the city in which he had made his fortune. Another art gallery, the Hatton Gallery (now part of Newcastle University), opened in 1925.

 

1917

 

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Newcastle city centre, 1917

 

1920

 

Council housing began to replace inner city slums in the 1920s, and the process continued into the 1970s, along with substantial private house building and acquisitions.

 

1930s

 

Unemployment hit record heights in Newcastle during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

 

1934

 

Efforts to preserve the city's historic past were evident as long ago as 1934, when the Museum of Science and Industry opened, as did the John G Joicey Museum in the same year.

 

1939

 

During the Second World War the city and surrounding area were a target for air raids as heavy industry was involved in the production of ships and armaments. The raids caused 141 deaths and 587 injuries. A former French consul in Newcastle called Jacques Serre assisted the German war effort by describing important targets in the region to Admiral Raeder who was the head of the German Navy.

 

1956

 

The city's last coal pit closed in 1956, though a temporary open cast mine was opened in 2013. The temporary open cast mine shifted 40,000 tonnes of coal, using modern techniques to reduce noise, on a part of the City undergoing redevelopment. The slow demise of the shipyards on the banks of the River Tyne happened in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

 

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View northwards from the Castle Keep, towards Berwick-on-Tweed in 1954

 

1960s

 

The public sector in Newcastle began to expand in the 1960s. The federal structure of the University of Durham was dissolved. That university's colleges in Newcastle, which had been known as King's College, became the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (now known as Newcastle University), which was founded in 1963, followed by a Newcastle Polytechnic in 1969; the latter received university status in 1992 and became the Northumbria University.

 

1983

 

Further efforts to preserve the city's historic past continued in the later twentieth century, with the opening of Newcastle Military Vehicle Museum in 1983 and Stephenson Railway Museum in 1986. The Military Vehicle museum closed in 2006. New developments at the turn of the 21st century included the Life Science Centre in 2000 and Millennium Bridge in 2001.

 

 

South Shields

 

South Shields is a coastal town in the North East of England at the mouth of the River Tyne, about 3.7 miles downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne. Historically part of County Durham, it became part of Tyne and Wear in 1974. According to the 2011 census, the town had a population of 76,498, the third largest in Tyneside after Newcastle and Gateshead. It is part of the metropolitan borough of South Tyneside which includes the towns of Jarrow and Hebburn.  The demonym of a person from South Shields is either a Geordie or a Sand dancer.

 

Pre historic

 

The first evidence of a settlement within what is now the town of South Shields dates from pre-historic times. Stone Age arrow heads and an Iron Age round house have been discovered on the site of Arbeia Roman Fort.

 

160 CE

 

The Roman garrison built a fort here around 160 CE and expanded it around 208 CE to help supply their soldiers along Hadrian's Wall as they campaigned north beyond the Antonine Wall. Divisions living at the fort included Tigris bargemen from Persia and modern day Iraq, infantry from Iberia and Gaul, and Syrian archers and spearmen.

 

Fourth century CE

 

The fort was abandoned as the Roman Empire declined in the 4th century CE. Many ruins still exist today and some structures have been rebuilt as part of a modern museum and popular tourist attraction.

 

Post Roman

 

There is evidence that the site was used in the early post-Roman period as a British settlement. It is believed it became a royal residence of King Osric of Deira; records show that his son Oswin was born within 'Caer Urfa', by which name the fort is thought to be known after the Romans left.

 

647 CE

 

Bede records Oswin giving a parcel of land to St Hilda for the foundation of a monastery here in c.647; the present-day church of St Hilda, by the Market Place, is said to stand on the monastic site.

 

Ninth century CE

 

In the 9th century, Scandinavian peoples made Viking raids on monasteries and settlements all along the coast, and later conquered the Anglian Kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia and East Anglia. It is said in local folklore that a Viking ship was wrecked at Herd Sands in South Shields in its attempts to disembark at a cove nearby. Other Viking ships were uncovered in South Shields Denmark Centre and nearby Jarrow.

 

1245

 

The current town was founded in 1245 and developed as a fishing port. The name South Shields developed from the Schele or 'Shield', which was a small dwelling used by fishermen.

 

Another industry that was introduced, was that of salt-panning, later expanded upon in the fifteenth century, polluting the air and surrounding land.

 

1642

 

In 1864, a Tyne Commissioners dredger brought up a nine-pounder breech-loading cannon; more cannonballs have been found in the sands beside the Lawe; these artifacts belonged to the English civil war. At the outbreak of the war in 1642, the North, West and Ireland supported the King; the South East and Presbyterian Scotland supported Parliament. In 1644 Parliament's Scottish Covenanter allies, in a lengthy battle, seized the town and its Royalist fortification, the fortification was close to the site of the original Roman fort. They also seized the town of Newburn. These raids were done to aid their ongoing siege of the heavily fortified Newcastle upon Tyne, and in a bid to control the River Tyne, and the North, and the Shields siege helped cause their battalions to manoeuvre south to York; this may have also led to a brief winter skirmish on the outskirts of Boldon, though the topography is not favourable for a battle.

 

Nineteenth century

 

In the 19th century, coal mining, alkaline production and glass making led to a boom in the town.

 

1801

 

The population was 12,000 in 1801

 

1832

 

With the Great Reform Act, South Shields and Gateshead were each given their own Member of Parliament and became boroughs, resulting in taxes being paid to the Government instead of the Bishops of Durham.

 

The rapid growth in population brought on by the expansion of industry made sanitation a problem, as evident by Cholera outbreaks and the building of the now-listed Cleadon Water Tower to combat the problem.

 

1850s

 

'The Tyne Improvement Commission' began to develop the river, dredging it to make it deeper and building the large, impressive North and South Piers to help prevent silt build up within the channel. Shipbuilding (along with coal mining), previously a monopoly of the Freemen of Newcastle, became another prominent industry in the town, with John Readhead & Sons Shipyard the largest.

 

1861

 

The population had increased to 75,000, bolstered by economic migration from Ireland, Scotland and other parts of England.

 

1916

 

During World War I, German Zeppelin airships bombed South Shields in 1916. 

 

1939

 

During World War II, the German Luftwaffe repeatedly attacked the town and caused massive damage to industries which supported the war effort, killing many innocent residents. Particularly, a bomb shelter in the market place of South Shields, where the deceased were commemorated in a cobblestone of the British flag.

 

Twentieth century

 

Gradually throughout the late 20th century, the coal and shipbuilding industries were closed during the Thatcher political era, due to competitive pressures from more cost effective sources of energy and competitive shipbuilding in Eastern Europe and in South East Asia.

 

Jarrow

 

Jarrow is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the River Tyne, about 3 miles from the east coast.

 

731 CE

 

In the eighth century, the monastery of Saint Paul of Tarsus in Jarrow (now Monkwearmouth, Jarrow Abbey) was the home of The Venerable Bede, who is regarded as the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar and the father of English history. Bede’s whose most notable works include Ecclesiastical History of the English People and the translation of the Gospel of John into Old English. Along with the abbey at Wearmouth, Jarrow became a centre of learning and had the largest library north of the Alps, primarily due to the widespread travels of Benedict Biscop, its founder.

 

750 CE

 

The town's name is recorded around 750 CE as Gyruum, from Old English Gyrwum " the marsh dwellers", and from gyr meaning "mud" or "marsh". Later spellings are Jaruum in 1158, and Jarwe in 1228. In the Northumbrian dialect it is known as Jarra.

 

794 CE

 

In 794 Jarrow became the second target in England of the Vikings, who had plundered Lindisfarne in 793.

 

Nineteenth century

 

From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding.

 

Jarrow remained a small mid-Tyne town until the introduction of heavy industries such as coal mining and shipbuilding.

 

1852

 

Charles Mark Palmer established a shipyard, Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company, in 1852 and became the first armour-plate manufacturer in the world.

 

John Bowes, the first iron screw collier, revived the Tyne coal trade, and Palmer's was also responsible for the first modern cargo ship, as well as a number of notable warships.

 

Around 1,000 ships were built at the yard, they also produced small fishing boats to catch eel within the River Tyne, a delicacy at the time.

 

1857

 

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1904

 

Jarrow Town Hall was erected in Grange Road and officially opened in 1904.

 

1915

 

The Jarrow rail disaster was a train collision that occurred on the 17 December 1915 at the Bede junction on a North Eastern Railway line. The collision was caused by a signalman's error and seventeen people died in the collision.

 

1918

 

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1920s

 

Although the First World War caused an economic boom in Britain, it masked a slow industrial decline from the country's Victorian heyday. As wartime demands gradually fell away, these failings again came to the fore and during 1920 Britain was plunged into an economic slump accompanied by high levels of unemployment and poverty.

 

1929

 

The situation was made far worse by the world-wide recession of 1929 and, having remained relatively constant, though high, at 10% throughout the 1920's, unemployment peaked at 22% in 1932.

 

Britain's traditional industries were particularly hard hit meaning that the North of England, Wales and Scotland, which had economies heavily dependent upon manufacturing, were disproportionately affected by the slump. This meant that these regions actually suffered far higher levels of unemployment than those suggested by the national average. And the effects were long-lasting, rather than following a regular economic cycle of prosperity and recession.

 

During the 1920's, the National Unemployed Workers' Movement (“NUWM”) organised a serious of 'hunger marches' to London in the hope that these would force the Government to radically rethink its economic policies. The term 'hunger march' was a recent one, first coined to describe a march by London's poor in 1908. The marches achieved nothing, however, the official view being that they were being high-jacked to serve the aims of their 'Communist' organisers.

 

1932

 

The end of the world-wide recession in 1932 allowed Britain to begin a slow path to recovery.

 

1936

 

By 1936, economic growth had reached 4% and mini-booms were being seen in housing and consumer spending. The recovery was badly uneven, however, with those areas which had seen their traditional employers devastated during the slump slow to see any improvement.

 

The town of Jarrow, lying on the southern bank of the River Tyne, had undergone a massive period of expansion during the Victorian era. However its economy was based on precisely those industries - iron, steel, shipbuilding - which were so badly hit by the recent depression. Charles Mark Palmer, the so-called 'King of Jarrow', had created an industrial empire in the town but gradually each of these businesses failed in turn. Unemployment stood at 3,300 in 1930 (75% of the working population) and at 6,793 in 1932 (80% of the insured population). When Palmer's Shipyard failed in 1934, the town lost its last purpose for existing. As the town's newly elected MP, the firebrand 'Red Ellen' Wilkinson, so forcefully pointed out in the Commons in December,1935: "The years go on and nothing is done ... this is a desperately urgent matter and something should be done to get work to these areas which, heaven knows, want work."

 

The hunger-march had become an accepted form of protest and in July 1936 the town's political leaders set in progress plans to mount a march from Jarrow to deliver a petition to Parliament calling for the opportunity to work.

 

Over 1,200 men came forward to take part, but it was decided to limit numbers to the 200 fittest and hardiest to make the logistics manageable. A fund was started to pay for supplies and equipment and this would continue to collect donations as the men marched south. Rallies were scheduled for the march's overnight stops to spread the word of what it was trying to achieve. As one marcher put it: "We were more or less missionaries of the distressed areas, [not just] Jarrow."

 

On Monday, 5 October, the date set for the start of the March, the Marchers received the blessing of the Bishop of Jarrow at a dedication service in Christ Church. This gained the venture a boost in credibility, but the service was condemned by Hensley Henson, the Bishop of Durham, who was unflinchingly opposed to the Trades Union movement and Socialism. Henson condemned the hunger marches as a whole as nothing but a vehicle for the Labour Party and his colleague in Jarrow, James Gordon, was later obliged to state that the service was not intended to condone the March. To add injury to insult, the Marchers later discovered that their dole had been stopped as the March had made them unavailable for work!

 

Re-enactment of Jarrow March fizzles out after just a quarter of the journey           The last survivor of the Jarrow march has died

 

Immediately after the service, the Marchers assembled at Jarrow Town Hall and made their last preparations before setting off. Although 200 men had been accepted for the venture, only 185 made it to the start-line due to sickness, changes in personal circumstance, etc. Around half of those taking part were veterans of the First World War and the Marchers walked in step and in military ranks to show their discipline and proclaim their past service. They took a 10-minute break every hour, in the military manner, and a harmonica band encouraged the singing of popular songs of the day to keep their spirits up. Before them they carried a blue-and-white banner proclaiming the ‘Jarrow Crusade’ though in Jarrow it was never known as anything other than ‘The March’. Again in the military tradition, behind them followed a bus with a field kitchen, a medical facility, and camping equipment for when beds were not available.

 

It would be a mistake to think that the Jarrow March took place in isolation. The sixth National Hunger March was setting off from 6 regional centres and these were due to unite in London a week after the arrival of the Jarrow men. Meanwhile, a group of blind veterans were marching in protest at the treatment of the nation’s 67,000 registered blind persons. The National Marches were seen as hostile and confrontational, and this undoubtedly aided the high level of publicity given to the Jarrow March which, by contrast, was recognised for its moderation and quiet dignity.

 

Ellen Wilkinson temporarily left the march at its first stopping point, in Chester-le-Street, to attend the Labour Party's annual conference in Edinburgh. Although it was proclaimed to be non-political, the Jarrow March was very much a product of the town’s Labour Council and she may have hoped to gain some support from her colleagues. In this she was to be disappointed, however. The Parliamentary Labour Party (“PLP”) was a minority part of the National Government of the time and anxious to distance itself from any accusations of ‘Communism’. So, neither this nor the Trade Union Congress (“TUC”) would offer its endorsement. David Riley, the Chairman of Jarrow Borough Council and a leading light in the organisation of the March, later complained that they felt that they had been "stabbed in the back".

 

As they moved south, the reception extended to the Marchers varied from indifferent to warm and welcoming. Local accommodation was secured in a series of Schools, Church Halls or other spacious buildings, and often gifts were made of food and clean clothing. What soon became clear was that the reception received bore no link to the political affiliation of the local Councils and the organisers of the March were at pains to avoid any action that might alienate any political body. Often the weather was bad, cold with driving rain.

 

Very quickly the March began attracting wide publicity and the Government in London, afraid that it was gaining Royal attention, acted to limit sympathy for it, claiming that such Marches only resulted in “unnecessary hardship for those taking part in them”. Wilkinson continued to push for an official reception for the Marchers, but received no encouragement from Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin during heated exchanges in the Commons. In truth Baldwin was in an impossible position, for opening Parliament’s doors to the Jarrow Marchers would have set a dangerous precedent.

 

The March reached Edgware in northern London on Friday, 30 October, leaving a relatively short 8-mile walk to Marble Arch the following day. It had been denied permission to deliver its petition to Parliament and so Ellen Wilkinson had to make the last stage of the journey alone. The original petition, calling for Government aid for the Town, had 11,000 signatures and was carried in an oak box. An additional petition had been made available to those who had wanted to sign on the way.

 

A new session in the House of Commons was convened on 3 November – the March had been timetabled to take advantage of this – and next day the Petition was presented. A (very) brief discussion followed after which the House returned to its normal business.

 

The March garnered a lot of publicity, a lot of soft words, but achieved little real change. This was not lost on the marchers themselves and the return journey home by train was a sombre affair.

 

1939

 

Not until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 did the Town start to recover from its long period of depression. When ‘Red Ellen’ published her history of Jarrow that same year she titled it: "The Town that was Murdered”.

 

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